'Lifelong repercussions'

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Homicide is the leading cause of death among young males in many Latin American countries, the UN says

Violence against children

120m girls - one in 10 - are raped or sexually attacked by age of 20

Boys also report experiences of sexual violence, but to a lesser extent than girls

The most common form of sexual violence for both genders is cyber-victimisation

95,000 children and teenagers were murdered in 2012

Slightly over one in three students aged 13-15 experience regular bullying in school

Six out of 10 children aged between two and 14 are physically punished by carers

Source: Unicef report

"It occurs in places where children should be safe, their homes, schools and communities.

"Increasingly, it happens over the internet, and it's perpetrated by family members and teachers, neighbours and strangers and other children.''

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Media captionWomen make up half the world, but do we really hear their stories?

The study revealed that about six out of 10 children aged between two and 14 were subjected to physical punishment from their carers on a regular basis.

One in three girls, aged between 15 and 19, who had at some time been in cohabiting relationships, had been victims of emotional, physical or sexual violence committed by their husbands or partners, the report said.

Partner violence appeared to be particularly prevalent in countries including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, the report said.

Of the countries surveyed, nearly half of all girls aged 15-19 believed that a husband was justified in hitting his wife under certain circumstances, the study added.

Grim audit

Meanwhile, homicide was reported as the leading cause of death in boys and men aged 10-19 in many Latin American countries, such as Venezuela, Panama, Brazil and Colombia.

Nigeria had the highest number of child homicides - 13,000, while the US had the highest homicide rate among countries in Western Europe and North America.

Research showed that violence was "detrimental to all aspects of a child's growth... with sometimes lifelong repercussions," the report said.

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The study said cyber-victimisation was the most common form of sexual violence for both genders

It noted that while there had been growing recognition in recent years about the impact of violence against children, it largely remained underreported and undocumented.

The report stressed that violence against children in some countries remained socially accepted or tacitly condoned, and quite often victims were too afraid to report the abuse.

Never before have so many statistics been gathered from so many different countries, and together they have produced a grim global audit of violence against children, the BBC's Nick Bryant at the UN says.